Plumber.Ca reviews (62)

The terrible reviews of this company are true. We had a completely blocked main drain in our basement on a Saturday night 2 weeks ago. In my panic to find an after hours plumber, I called the first emergency service I found online, and when they agreed to come right over, I accepted the $199 non-refundable charge for the visit. When the two guys arrived (about 2 hours later!), they used a large snake machine (K-1500) and a root cutter, but were not able to remove what they identified as a "heavy solid blockage outside property line", and advised me to call the city as there was nothing they could do. They charged me almost $800 for this, which was about $300 less than they had initially quoted from their binder (they also claimed the city would reimburse me). I called the city and an inspector arrived about an hour later (kudos to the city, this was around 1 am). He immediately opened the clean out and backflow preventer right beside my front door - they were both clean and dry, so no problem on the city side. The Plumber.ca guys had not done this. They also didn't check the clean out inside the house. When I wasn't able to reach anyone at Plumber.ca the entire next day, I ended up calling in a real plumber who, within about 5 minutes, had opened up the inside clean out, identified the blockage in the P trap, and snaked it out in a matter of minutes. The cost this time was $280. Plumber.ca overcharged me for a problem they completely misdiagnosed and failed to follow up on. For the past two weeks, I have been trying to come to a resolution with this company - I'm willing to compensate them fairly for their time - but to no avail. So now I'm trying to deal with this charge via my credit card provider. It was very stupid of me to call them before checking the reviews online. Please don't make the same mistake!

They did a terrible job, would NEVER use them again. Tenant called them on a Sunday. For an exorbitant price the replaced the toilet using shoddy materials with shoddy workmanship. When the toilet was later wobbly (!), they claimed without having to revisit, that it needed a new flange and they would charge MORE to fix that! If they knew that off the top of their head, why did they not do a proper job first time? My tenant accepted their advice (which did not include reference to any flange) and expected a proper job to be done. Work will need to be redone which for their charged cost, is a disgrace.

I have had an awful experience with these guys. I had pipes vibrating in my century old income property in cabbagetown - I feared pipes might burst so I called ermerg number in the evening - they came at 3 am and said it was not a plumbing problem - and they charged me 400$ - I have had hydro and an electrician take a look and both say it is plumbing - now plumber.ca wont take my calls - I used my wife's phone to reach them and they keep promising to send a tech out - they are not reputable - I am contacting ellen roseman at the star to expose them

This is the worst company. DO not use as they will rip you off. They charged me $200 to come out and when the technician arrived 3 hours later he just showed me a book to say it would cost $550 to find the leak. He then walked to my dishwasher (which I had shut off already) and said he found the leak but could not do anything. This was all in 15 minutes of arrival. He then started writing out at $550 invoice. I told him I wasn't paying it as he was ripping me off. After a long discussion I gave him $200 (huge amount for 15 minutes in my house doing nothing) and kicked him out. Go find yourself a proper plumbing company and never use these guys again! What kind of an guy shows me a book to says it costs $550 and then finds the issue 5 minutes later! That's not a business, that's ripping people off.

I called this company on a Friday afternoon because I broke the handle of the main valve of water supply inside the house while using too much force to shut off the water into the house in order to fix a leaking faucet myself. So we had no water and needed emergency service. The receptionist at Plumber.ca advised that there will be a service callout charge of $199. Two service people showed up in about 2 hours and quoted me from a company handbook that it would cost $1,000 to replace the main valve (they gave me a break because otherwise it would be $1,400 for a brand new customer). I agreed to it given the situation that there is no water supply and the house was therefore not habitable. After 15 minutes they could not find the outside shutoff valve of water supply into the house and therefore they could not replace the main valve. They told me to call Halton Region (as they are responsible for water supply) to locate and turn off the outside shutoff valve and then call them back to replace the main valve inside the house. Meanwhile, according to their book, it will cost me $500 to turn the water back on but that will be part of the $1,000 replacement cost of the main valve. With no water, I paid the $500 plus tax and they used a pair of pliers and turn the water on in 10 seconds. I then called the Region right after they left and was advised that plumbers working in Halton Region should know that the main valve is the property of the Region and should not touch it and that the Region will fix any problems free of charge. Since I now have water and can live with the leaking faucet (the starting point of my episode) over the weekend, I told the Region that it is not an emergency situation (like water spraying around). The next week the Region sent their contract plumber, who turned off the outside shutoff valve and replaced the main valve inside the house in 20 minutes and at no cost to me. Reflecting on this experience, I have two pieces of advice to people considering Plumber.ca for their services. First, their charging by the job instead of by the hour means that you probably pay for the worst case scenario of what the job may actually need. For example, my $500 cost according to their book for turning the water back on might be justified if there was a major leak and water was spraying everywhere and flooding our basement instead of just the 1 minute job to turn the water back on. Of course, faced with an emergency situation without water supply, a customer like myself is not likely to call in another plumber for a comparison quote but rather would be prepared to accept the book price for the job to get the problem over with. Second, their lack of knowledge that the main valve is Regional property and is to be fixed only by the Region at no cost to the customer reflects either their ignorance of local situations or their company policy to maximize their profit and prey on customers in a dire situation. A responsible plumbing service would have told me over the phone that anything to do with the main valve should be directed to the Region (who has an emergency phone line and is prepared to get their contract plumber out as soon as possible because they may be liable for flooding damages). Since Plumber.ca did respond to my call for service, I owe them the $199 fee which should cover the time they spent for turning the water back on with a pair of pliers and even looking for the outside shutoff valve (which they were not supposed to touch had they known better). The $500 plus tax charge I paid is definitely unprofessional and the result of a predatory pricing policy.

$400 was for call out charge. Long story short, the guy they sent tried to up sell a $1600 replacement of the whole shower set when all that was required was a new valve stem in the handle. They wanted another $200 for that. he was unable to do this simple job (another plumber came later and did it in 5 minutes). They never returned many many calls to discuss this. Now heading to small claims court. AVOID. AVOID. AVOID. Worst service EVER.

My regular plumber was not available for an emergency leaky valve. Plumber.ca was late and then installed the wrong type of valve. They offered to un-clog a toilet and do some other work for a price that was more than double what we eventually paid. We hired another company to replace the valve they had just installed and also install another valve that they missed due to poor communication. I asked for a 50% refund (which I thought was very reasonable considering we got nothing for the $700 we paid) In Dec they called to offer me a refund but only if I changed my review to a favourable one. In the end I decided my integrity was worth more than $350. Hopefully they will refund future dissatisfied customers without being asked and with no conditions attached. Makes me wonder how many poor reviews are removed or changed after the fact. I am ashamed to admit that I was very tempted.

If Plumber.ca asks you for a fee upfront for an estimate and say the will deduct it from your bill if they do the work. STAY AWAY!. Once they have you on the hook for the upfront fee they will give you inflated prices and you will lose big time. There are plenty of good plumbers out there who will gladly give you a free estimate and on a 24 hour basis as well. Don't be taken in like I was. It cost me $400 and nothing was done by the joker they sent to my house. Buyer Beware!

STAY AWAY! from these people. They charge you $299 to come and look at the work and say they will deduct the cost from your bill if they do the work. Then they gave me a ridiculous price of $500 to pick up a 1 piece toilet move it 5 feet and re-install it. Also $1300 to hook up a vanity sink with faucet & trap. Told me I needed a new trap and wanted $400 plus installation for that. At that point I told them to get our of my house. Then the guy wants more money on top of the $299 for his time. He did not seem to know what he was doing and did absolutely nothing but look at everything while he was there. STAY AWAY! TOTAL RIP-OFF.

DO NOT EVEN CONSIDER HIRING THIS COMPANY. We have had a sewage level alarm going off. That means only two things either pump is clogged or pump has failed. We hired septic tank maintenance company to empty septic tank and proceeded to call plumber to unclog or replace pump. Similar to other reviews we have agreed to pay call fee if we decided not to proceed with work. Phil showed up at the end of the day. He really looked lost. I have taken initiative to prompt him about diagnostic of the problem. We found out pump was not operating. He did not have anything good on board of his truck ( plug in model from a discount store was the only thing he had) Promised to return next day with proper hard wired model. This is day 3 and I am being ignored. Here is how this company makes money. They take a call and inform you about 140.00 call fee. Before they diagnose the problem they show you their work fees. If you have and idea of what market charges ( that knowledge comes too late for most of us unfortunately) you send them packing. They collect 140 for you to have privilege of looking at their super high prices. If you are against the barrel of the gun you enter into work agreement and you soon realize they really do not know what they are doing. They will charge you diagnostic fee and you will never see them again. You are back at square one and paying someone else to come and do job properly. I am out 700.00 for 45 minute work ( that includes scratching head for 30 minutes). Phil has made a single cut to abs pipe. 700.00 for that is outrageous. I am done waiting. Let it be warning to all prospective customers. Do not do it. Check company that has good listing with Better Business Bureau.